From natural gas pipeline inspections to Windows apps: how field work pushed me into software

Hi everyone, I’m Boston.

My career is in pipeline inspection. I travel coast to coast working on natural gas infrastructure projects, where documentation has to satisfy DOT / PHMSA regulations and strict company policy.

Years ago, I started building Excel macros just to make my own work tolerable.

At first, it was simple: capture project data once and reuse it across multiple reports instead of typing the same information over and over. That small change saved time, reduced errors, and made long days a little more manageable.

Eventually, other inspectors started asking for copies.

That’s when it shifted from personal convenience to something more serious, a service others depended on to keep their documentation consistent and audit-ready.

Along the way, I ran headfirst into problems I never expected to deal with:

• How do you license software that must work 100% offline?

• How do you distribute tools when Windows Smart App Control blocks anything without reputation?

• How do you build trust in software before anyone knows who you are?

I ended up learning far more about Windows security, signing, packaging, and deployment than I ever planned to. I even obtained an IV & an EV code signing certificate, which felt like a strange milestone for someone who started out just trying to automate spreadsheets.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, another idea surfaced.

Not a pipeline tool — something broader.

For years, my daily routine started the same way: open the same set of folders in File Explorer, dig through the same working locations, reconstruct the same workspace… and then do it all again the next day.

It felt like walking into an office, pulling files out of a cabinet one by one, and putting them back every evening, over and over, forever.

That repetition doesn’t just waste time.

It drains focus before the real work even begins.

So I built something I personally wished I had found ten years ago — the kind of tool that solves a problem you don’t realize is stealing time until it’s gone.

That project eventually became Explorer Session Saver, and it's what led me here to Product Hunt.

Right now, I’m introducing myself, sharing the background that brought me into software, and learning from others who’ve walked similar paths.

Looking forward to being part of the community and sharing what comes next.